Big Thompson River A-19

Description: The Bein Mountain Ranch contains about ½ mile of the 30-40 foot wide Big Thompson River. Good numbers of wild rainbows, as well as cutbows and browns thrive in this river, most in the 10-12 inch range and some exceeding 18 inches.

Location: This property is located between Estes Park and Drake, approximately 1 1/2 hours northwest of Denver.

Capacity: Limited to 2 anglers, or 3 if in one group.

To make a reservation call 303-421-6239 or 1-800-524-1814.

Rate Notes:

Rates:

Everyday
Adult

$60.00

Everyday
Adult 1/2 Day

Everyday
Adult Aftn.

$45.00

Everyday
Child

0.00

Everyday
Youth

$45.00

Everyday
Youth 1/2 Day

Everyday
Youth Aftn.

$33.75

Property Log Book Comments

Two of us fished on both Saturday and Saturday. The fishing was good, as usual. The river was at about 140cfs, I believe. The hatches on Saturday were more dense. There were two heavy storms that rolled through late Saturday afternoon, and the water became slightly discolored. There were a few pmds, a ton of red quills, plenty of caddis, and some small stoneflies. We caught a ton of fish on Saturday all throughout the day. Various caddis imitations worked, as did some red quill emergers below the surface. Sunday was slower than Saturday for sure. The storms came through earlier and chased us off the river by noon. We caught about an equal number of browns and rainbows. ~ Mike Murphy -- July 16th, 2013

The flow was nice at about 140cfs, and the weather was ideal with temps in the upper 50s to lower 60s and cloudless. There was very little wind to contend with for the day. The fishing was TOUGH. Two of us ended-up catching under 20 fish total. Knowing this property as I do, that is a tough day here. There was a light baetis hatch at times, and no other bugs were seen. Numerous baetis emergers were tried with limited success. There were only two fish seen feeding in top. Fish were caught on golden stones; psycho prince, BH pheasant tail, pat's rubber legs, and a couple of other patterns. We switched flies A LOT, which is also something that you never need to do at this river when it is "on". Oh well, some days are tougher than others, right? ~ Mike Murphy -- June 3rd, 2013

Decided to fish this instead of competing with the Memorial Day crowd on the Big T - Great day to be on the water. Started below the bridge and promptly caught 10 in a row on a dry dropper rig (Adams/BHPT). Moved upstream and caught a few more before changing to a new full rig nymph setup that I have been trying. Caught a few and missed several before going back to the dry dropper. Nice property to fish by yourself or with a buddy. ~ A Slaughter -- May 27th, 2013

It was a great dry fly fishing day under partly cloudy skies and 50 degrees temps with minimal wind. Arrived at Noon and fished until 5 pm. Landed 12 trout, mostly browns from 10-12 inches on BWO Extended body #20 and Parachute Adams #20. Lots of other strikes but I was not skilled enough to hook them. BWO's were hatching in small waves for a few hours in different places. The folks at Kirks Flyshop in Estes helped with the fly selection. I tried some nymph fishing with some success but gave that up because who can resist surface fishing. Flows were good and water was clear. I tried the big pool near the downstream boundary for the first time. Saw a few large rainbows chasing each other around in the pool. They seemed to have other things on their mind aside from feeding. The pool had quite a few risers but I was unable to get a take. Overall, great experience. ~ Mark -- May 10th, 2013

55 degrees, overcast, fished from 1-6pm. Water flow perfect and clear.
This one was too easy. BWO hatch from the moment I arrived. BWOs worked best for first few hours, then para Adams worked better as the grey seemed to be a perfect match in the light.
24 caught and released, another 5 or 6 lost, and a good 10 more missed plus a bunch refused. All but one on the surface (that said, I quickly ditched the dropper when I realized the bite was one). Steady feeding the whole time I was there. ~ Steve Fitzgerald -- May 6th, 2013

Very productive day on this property. Wife and I fished this from about 9:30 - 2:30. caught about 3 dozen between the 2 of us. Mostly rainbows with a few browns. Wife had best luck on a # 20 RS-2. My results were about 50/50 on a #16 prince with a #20 RS-2 dropper. Both rigs fished with one BB slit-shot and the indicator placed about 2 feet above fly. ~ Jay Hynek -- April 30th, 2013

Very good day on the Big T, two of us fished it from 9 AM to 2:30 Pm with short break from lunch. Lucked out with good flows thanks to work on damn in Estes and releasing of water upstream. About 30 fish total for 2 people, mix of browns and 'bows in 7-13 inch range. Didn't see any activity on surface until last big hole at upstream boundary which looked like a fish parking lot. Unfortunately we couldn't figure out what they were sipping on top. Caught everything on nymphs and midges, mostly a red copper john trailed by size 22 purple/blue Cravens Poison Tung. Only had a few take the red cj. They also took a size 18 purple psycho prince but don't think they were very selective this trip. Saw a few mountain goats on Hwy 34 coming back down. Good day for sure! ~ MWooster -- April 15th, 2013

Wife and I fished the afternoon . River was clear and low (46cfs). Saw lots of fish, but they were mostly not interested in what we offered. Did catch a few on top with midge imitations and 2 on midge nymphs. Hoked total of 5 = pretty slow for all afternoon, but still better than most other options for the day. ~ Walt -- November 2nd, 2012

First time at this property. Nice flows with a BWO hatch and partly cloudy skies. Could see fish all around. Fished dry flies only: BWO #18 with 6x tippet. Kirk's flyshop had 2 BWO's left and that's all I used. I did not even try using nymphs. Lots of action from Noon till 4 pm then it all stopped. Mostly 10 inch rainbows and a few browns, one was 12 inches. After fishing public water on Boulder Creek/ St Vrain all summer this was glorious. Great day ~ Mark K. -- October 13th, 2012

Started about 11:00 am under cloud cover. Fished upper half. Limited success with Parachute adams on top and a 2-bit hooker below. Then we fished the lower half where there were fewer pools and more wide, shallower areas. Then the sun also came out. All told, with the low flows and the afternoon sun, it made for a tough fishing on the lower half. ~ b minturn -- August 24th, 2012